Car-door opener



Dec. 25 3923. 3,478,562

J. F. FISK 1 CAR DOOR OPENER Fil ed April 11, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Use 25 i e J. F. FISK CAR DOOR OPENER 3 Sheets-Shea? 2 Filed April 11 .J. F. FISK CAR DOOR OPENER Filed April 11 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Dec. 25, 1923.

it" srrs JESSE FRANKLIN FISK, 0F CHESTERTON, INDEANA, ASSIGNOF/ T0 ARMOUR GRAIN 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINGIS, A CORPORATION.

GAR-DOOR OPENER.

Application filed April 11, 1921. Serial No. 450,463.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, dress FRANKLIN FIsK, citizen of the United States, residing at Chesterton, in the county of Porter and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Door Openers, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a car door opener and more specifically to a device for opening the doors of cars carrying grain.

It is customary in shipping grain to use box cars and to provide said cars with inner doors to prevent the grain'placed in the cars from leaking out of the same at the doors. These doors are usually made of a plurality of layers of boards with the joints staggered, so as to prevent leakage. These doors are secured to the side walls of the cars on the inner-side thereof by nailing or in any similar manner. The nails are. used principally to prevent longitudinal shifting of the grain doors relative to the sides of the cars as the pressure of the grain is exerted in such a direction as to hold the doors in position against the sides of the cars.

hen it is desired to empty the cars of the grain contained therein, at grain elevators or Similar places considerable difficulty is often experienced in removing the grain doors referred to above. It is customary to remove the doors by applying a crow bar or similar instrument between the same and the side of the car at one side of the doorway to pry the door inwardly away from the side of the car at one end of said door, causing the grain to flow through the opening produced and thus relieving the pressure of the grain against said door. A ter this is done the door can be readily removed, but it usually requires a large amount of time and effort to pry oil the door at the one end due to the great pressure of the grain thereagainst.

It is a purpose of the present invention to provide means whereby grain doors of the above. mentioned character can be readily opened with a minimum of effort and a minimum of consumption of time. his is accomplished by providing a support extending parallel to the side of the car, the grain door of which is to be-opened and means of greater length than the distance between said car door and said support extending between said door and support which is adapted to swing from an angular position to a perpendicular position relative to the side of saidcar to force said door inwardly and thus open the same.

It is a further purpose of the invention to provide a grain car door opener of the above mentioned character comprising a framework provided with rails extending parallel to the side of the car, and arms of greater length than the distance between said rails and the side of said car swingingly relatively to said rails, and adapted to move from an angular to a substantially perpendicular position relative to the side of said car upon relative movement of said arms and car. Either the arms may be moved on the rails to straighten the arms or the arms may be held stationary relatively to the rails and the car moved to straighten the same, as the desired result can be obtained in either way. Either one or more arms may be used, two being preferred, and the rails may be provided with arms extending in only one direction or the rails may be mounted between two tracks and may have arms extending in opposite directions to open car doors on both sides of said rails.

It is still a further purpose of the invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character with arms that are adjustable in length and which are adapted to have the car engaging ends thereof adjusted vertically to engage doors on cars of varying car floor heights.

It is another object of the invention to provide suitable means for moving the inner ends of the arms lengthwise of the rails, said means preferably comprising a pair of screws or worms engag'ng said arms and adapted to advance said arms upon rotation thereof. Any suitable means be used to actuate said worms or screws, a hand crank mechanism being shown, but any other driving means being usable therefor.

It is another object of the invention to provide a car door opener of the above mentioned character that is adapted to be moved along beside a string of cars to open the doors of a plurality of cars placed end to end. In order to carry out this purpose rails may be provided extending parallel to the track upon which said cars are located and upon which the entire or any portion of the device comprising the framework, screws, arms and rails upon which said arms move, is adapted to slide, and suitable means such as cable may be provided for moving said device along said rails.

It is another purpose ofthe invention to so construct the car door opener as to avoid interference with the grain imloadi-ng mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description of the accompanying drawings showing certainforms that my invention may take, proceeds. However, I desire to have it distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the exact details shown and described, but that I intend to include as part or my invention all such obvious changes and modifications of parts as would occur to a person skilled in-this art and as would tall within the scope of the claims.

In the drawings: 1

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved grain car door opener; I

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

F ig.-3 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a-plan view of the device showing the same in position to open the grain door of a car;

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the means for operating the screws or worms;

Fig. 6 is a broken end view oi the arms showing a slightly modified structure;

F ig; 7 is a plan view showing a further modified form of the device in position to open a grain door; and

Fig. 8' is a fragmentary detail view of the modification shown-in Fig. 7.

Referring in detail to the drawings the car door opener comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending rail members 16 which are secured between suitable supports, such as the columns of'thebuilding in which the car opener is located, the rails 10 extending parallel to the sides of the car that is to be opened, The rails comprise plates 11 and angles 12 forming channels within which the blocks or shoes 13 are adapted to slide, thus guiding these blocks in a path parallel to the side of the car. It will be noted that two pairs of parallel rails are provided and that blocks 13 are provided to operate in the channelled gui'deways formed by the rails,the blocks 13 being arranged in pairs and being connected by means of uprights 14. The rails 10 are connected together by vertically extending members 15 so as to properly space the same and hold them in parallel relationship. The members 15 are also provided for carrying suitable mechanism for moving the blocks 13 and the connecting members 14' longitudinally'of the framework as will be described below. The uprights 14-are provided with bearing portions 16 that are circular incross section upon which aremounted laterally extending arms comprising the brackets 17 mounted to turn about the bearing portion 16 and secured thereto b'y -the eap members 18 by means of suitable bolts 18. The brackets 17 extend from one of the bearmg portions 16 to the other bearing portion 16 on the member 14. The portions of the brackets 17 cooperating with the bearthe brackets and adapted to pivot about" said pivot pins in a vertical plane. The upper portions 23 of the brackets 17 are provided with shelf-like portions to receive the members 22 to limit the downward movement thereof. The outer ends of the members 22 have the hollow members 24 hingedly connectedthereto .by means of the hinge 25 said hinge being so constructed that the same will open only in one direction as will be clear from, Fig. 3, thus making a form of rule joint. Within the bores of the members 24 are mounted the members 26 which are longtiudinally adjustable within said :members 24. The members 214 are provided with a plurality of openings 27 and each of themembers 26 are provided with an opening 28 that is adapted to be aligned with any desired one of the openings 27 and a bolt 29 is adapted to be passed through said aligned openings to hold the members 26 and 24 in adjusted position. Pivotally mounted on the outer ends of. the members 26 are the vertically extending members 80, the members 30 connecting and spacing the members 26 and acting as bearing shoes which are adapted to engage with the car door that is to be opened.

It will be noted on' referring to Fig. :3 that the members 30 are made angular in cross section being substantially L-shape in cross section and that the same are pivot ally connected with the members 26 by means of the horizontal pivots 31. t the apex of the angle of the members are provided a plurality of prongs 32 which-are adapted to engage in the material of the car door and prevent slippage of the shoe 30' when in'eng'agement with the door. As car doorsare of various heights depending upon the type of car upon which the doori'sprovided, the device is preferably provided with means to adjust the same vertically. The means for adjusting the laterally extending arms comprising-the members'22. 24,and 26 vertically comprisesthe link 33 connecting the members 22, said link 33 being pivotally secured to the members ill ii full line position thereof.

at 34, as will be clear from Fig. 2. Pivoted to the Web of the bracket 17 is, the link 36 which is in turn pivotally connected to the lever 37 intermediate the ends thereof, one end of the lever 37 being provided with a handle portion 38 and the other end thereof-being pivotally secured to a link 39 which is in turn pivoted to the lower member Itwill be noted that upon downward movement of the handle 38 that the arm 22 and arms 24 and 26 and connecting members 30 will be raised to the proper position for engagement with the car door that is to be opened.

Upon referring to Figs. 3 and 4 it will be seen that in Fig. 3 the members 22 and 24 are shown as extending at an oblique angle to the rails 10 in the dotted line position thereof and at right angles thereto in the In Fig. 4 these members are shown as extending obliquely in the full line position thereof and dotted lines are shown at 40 showing the position that said arms would assume when in a position corresponding to the full line position of Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that when the arms are in the oblique position shown that they extend from the rails to the car door and are thus longer than the perpendicular distance between the car door 41 and the rails 10. It will be evident upon referring to Fig. 4 that if the arms were moved from the oblique position to the perpendicular position that due to the combined length of the members 22, 24 and 26 being greater than the perpendicular distance between the door and the rails upon which these members are mounted the door 41 will be forced inwardly as shown in Fig. 4, the position of the door prior to being forced inwardly being shown at 41 in Fig. 3 and subsequent to being forced inwardly at 41 in Fig. 3. The car 42 may be moved by any desired means or if it is impossible to move the same means is provided for moving the ends of the arms remote from the car door in a direction parallel to the car door so as to move the arms comprising the members 22, 24 and 26 from the dotted line to the full line position in Fig. if the car 42 is moved the arms would have to extend at an angle opposite to that shown in Fig. 4 and the car would have to be moved to the left due to the construction of the rule joint between the members 22 and 24, and if the ends of the arms remote from the car door are moved said ends would be moved to the left in Fig. 3 from the dotted to the full line position thereof. Means is provided on the framework carrying the rails 10 and connecting members 15 for moving said arms from the dotted to the full line position. Any suitable means may be used for this purpose. The means shown comprises pairs of worms or screws 43 mounted in bearings 44 in the members 15 and extending through suitably internally threaded bores in the enlargements 19 so that the members 14 and the arms carried thereby can be moved lengthwise of the rails 10 in either direction depending upon the direction of rotation of the worms or screws 43. Any desired means may be used for rotating the worms. In the drawings the means for rotating the worms comprises a pair of sprockets 45 and 46 which have a chain 47 extending over the same so as to rotate the worms in the same direction. On the extreme end portion of the lower worm 43 is provided a gear 48 meshing with a small spur gear 49, which is keyed on a shaft that is adapted to be rotated by means of the handle or crank 50.

Referring to Fig. 6 it will be seen that if desired instead of merely providing arms at one side of the framework and using the caps 18 for completing the member surrounding the portion 16 of the vertically extending member 14, a pair of substantially simliar brackets 17 and 17 can be provided as shown in said figure, whereby a set of arms extending in the opposite direction to the arms comprising the member 22 can be mounted on the members 14. The set of arms at one side of the rails and the set of arms at the other side of the rails are made in the same way, the members 22, 33, 36 37' and 39 corresponding to the members 22, 33, 36, 37 and 39 of the structure at the other side of the center line of the device. Y'Vhen a structure, such as shown in Fig. 6, is used it is, of course, provided with the members 24 and 26 and the shoes 30, and these shoes are adapted to cooperate with grain doors of cars on tracks at both sides of the grain door opening device.

In Figs. 6 and 7 a further modified form of car door opener is shown, said grain door opener being shown as having only a single set of arms as will be clear from Fig. 7 When only one set of arms is used as shown in Fig. 7 then the bearing member 30 is applied adjacent one end of the door to force the same inwardly to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7. The entire frame work comprising the arms and the rails upon which the arms are mounted and the mechanism for moving the arms along the rails is in this case mounted on a second set'of rails so as to make the devices portable in a direction parallel tothe length of the car or string of cars on the track parallel to these rails.

Referring to Fig. 8, it will be seen that a shoe 51 is mounted between the angles 12 of the lower track 10, a similar shoe being provided between the upper angles of the upper rail member 10. The shoe 51 is adapted to operate in the guideway providedhetween the angles 52 mountedon the plate 53 whiclrform the guideway or track upon which the entire framework of the car moved adjacent one of the car doors, after which thearms are moved to a perpendicular positionrelative to the door by means of the crank and worms operated through the sprocket wheels and chain mechanism, thus opening the said-car door in the manner previously described. Then the device is moved to a position adjacent the doorot the next car or any other car on the track parallel-to the guideways formed by the members 52 and 53 and the same-operation is gone through again. i V

In ordento preventslippage ofthe shoes 51 on the guideway in which they operate when opening a car door, one of the angles l2.is provided with a bracket 55ha'ving pairs of ears 56. bet-weenwhich is pivoted the handle 57 having the downwardly ex tending lever 58 with which is pivotally connected the bolt 59. that isadapted to be projected intothe opening 60 in the member 51, and through an opening in the angle 52, thus. locking the block or shoe, 51 to the guideway and preventing movement of the car door opening device carried thereby relative to the guideway.

It will be seen from the above thatacar door opening device is provided thatwill readily open the doors ofgrain carrying cars with asmall amount, of e'ilort andv .a consumptionfofa minimum; of time and that the device can be either permanently attached tothe columns of a building as shown in Figs. 1 to i inclusive, or can be made portable as shown inl igs. 7 and 8. v i It will also be seen that any nnmberof door opening arms can be used,vboth the use of a single arm and of a pair ofarms being shown in the drawings. 7

Havingthus described my invention what I desire to claimand. secure by U. ,8. Letters Patent is i 1. The combination with a car having a grain door of a device comprising, a support, and an arm mounted 'tfofswing' horizontally relative to saidsupport, said arm being of greater length than the distance between said door and said support and be ing normally at an oblique, angle to said door, said arm being swingable to a substantially right angular position relatively to said door upon relative'longitudinal movementof 821C]. car and the end ofsald arm adacent saidsu'pport, to force saiddoor open.

In operating the device shown in Figs. 7 and 8the dev1ce 1s first Q. The combination with a car having a grain door of a device comprising-asupport, and an arm adjustable in length mounted to swing horizontally and verticallyrelative to said support, said arm being of greater length than the distance between said door and said supportand being normally at an oblique angle to said door, said arm being swingableto a substantially right angular position relatively to said door upon relative longitudinal movement of said car inal movement of-said car andthe end of said arm adjacent said support, to force said door open.

.4. The combination with a car having a grain door or a device comprising a support,

and an arm mountedto swing horizontally relative to said support, said arm beingv ot greater length than the distance between said door and said support, and being normally at an obliqueangle to said door, said arm being swingabletoa substantially right angularposition relatively to said door upon relative ;movemento'f said car and the end of said arm adjacent-saidsupport in a-direction longitudinally of said ear, to force said door open, said dev ce being-mounted for movement in a directionrpar-allel to said grain door of a device comprising:a-support, and anarm mounted to swing horizontally relatlve to said support, said arm being of greater length than the distance between said door and said support and being normally atan oblique angleto SELlChdOOI", saw

5. The combination withja car havinga,

arm being swings. to'a substantiallyright angular position relatnely to said doorinpon relative movement of saidcarand the end of said arm adjacent said support ina direction longitud nally of said car, to force said door open, said device being mounted for movement in a direction parallelto said can and means for lockingsai d device in any desired position.- 7

6. Adevice-foropening grain car doors, comprising a support, and an arm pivotallylmountedi on said support, said arm "being swingable horizontally from a position oblique to the car door nto a position subStan,

tially at right angles to said door 'to it'orce V saiddoor open. l v 7 i V I 7. The combination with a car havmg a grain door, of a door opening device comprising a framework and an arm swingingly mounted on said framework, said arm being mounted for movement longitudinally of said framework parallel to the side of said car and being of greater length than the distance between said car door and said frame work, said arm being swingable from an oblique angular position relative to saidcar door to a substantially perpendicular position relative thereto to force said car door open upon relative longitudinal movement thereof.

8. The combination with a car having a grain door, of a door opening device comprising a framework and an arm swingingly mounted on said framework, said framework being provided with rails extending parallel to the side of said car between which one end of said arm is mounted to move longitudinally thereof and means for moving said arm along said rails, said arm being of greater length than the distance between said car door and said framework and being swingable from an oblique angular position relative to said car door to a Substantially perpendicular position relative thereto to force said car door open.

9. The combination with a car having a grain door, of a door opening device comprising a framework and an arm swingingly mounted on said framework, said framework being provided with rails extending parallel to the side of said car between which one end of said arm is mounted to move longitudinally thereof and means for moving said arm along said rail, said arm being of greater length than the distance be tween said car door and said framework and being swingable from an oblique angular position relative to said car door to a substantially perpendicular position relative thereto to force said car door open, rails upon which said framework is movable parallel to the side of said car and means for moving said framework along said last mentioned rails.

10. A device of the character described comprising a framework having a pair of parallel rails, a member mounted for movement longitudinally of said rails, a pair of arms mounted on one end for swinging movement relative to said member, and a bearing member connecting the other ends of said arms.

11. A device of the character described comprising a framework having a pair of parallel rails, a member mounted for movement longitudinally of said rails, a pair of 'arms mounted on one end for swinging movement relative to said member, said arms belng ad uStable in length, and a bearing member connecting the other ends of said arms.

12. A device of the character described comprising a framework having a pair of parallel ralls, a member mounted for movement longitudinally of said rails, a pair of arms mounted on one end for swinging movement relative to said member, said arms being vertically adjustable, and a bearing member connected to the other ends of said arms.

13. A device of the character described comprising a framework having a pair of parallel rails, a member mounted for movement longitudinally of said rails, a pair of arms mounted on one end for swinging movement 7 relative to said member, and a bearing member connecting the other ends of said arms, said bearing member being provided with holding prongs.

15. A; device of the character described comprising a framework having a pair of parallel rails, a member mounted for movement longitudinally of said rails, a pair of arms mounted on one end for swinging movement relative to said member, and a bearing member connecting the other ends of said arms, rails upon which said framework is longitudinally slidable, and means for moving said framework along said last mentioned rails.

16. A device of the character described comprising a framework having a pair of parallel rails, a member mounted for movement longitudinally of said rails, a pair of arms mounted on one end for swinging movement relative to said member, said arms each comprising a pair of members hingedly connected together by means of a' rule joint, and a bearing member connecting the other ends of said arms.

17. A device of the character described comprising a pair of parallel rails, a plu rality of members extending between said rails and having slidable engagement therewith, brackets swivelled on said members, pairs of laterally extending arms mounted on said brackets, and a bearing shoe connecting the arms of each of said pairs.

18. A device of the character described comprisin a pair of parallel rails, a plurality of members extending between said rails and having slidable engagement therewith, brackets swivelled on said members, pairs of laterally extending arms mounted. on horizontal pivots on said brackets, and a pronged bearing shoe extending between and pivotally connected to the arms of each of said pairs.

1311A device" of the -chm-ater desicrib'ed comprising a' pair of'piirallel mile, aplii ralityqf' members extendiii'g between said rails and having slidable engagement there with, oppositely extending" brackets swivelled "011 said" members, pairs b-f laterally exg tending arms mounted on ho'rizontzilpivot s 0n said brackets and a pronged bearing mounted on aid support, said erm being swingablefrom a'position oblique to the car door into a pesitionsubstantially at right 15 angles to sai'dflooi to force said door open, said arm having bearing member on the endthereoi; and means for ad uStmg sald sheef extending-between and pivotally eon 1O nected 't 0 t he armsbf each of s aid pairs:

20. Adevice for opening grain'ca'r doors, 

